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The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

Top Five World News Events: Oct. 8 to Oct. 14

Top Five World News Events: Oct. 8 to Oct. 14

1. Iran Accused of Attempted Assassination on U.S. Soil. The Department of Justice announced on Oct. 11 that it had disrupted an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States. Manssor Arbabsiar was arrested on Sept. 29 after allegedly paying $100,000 as a down payment to a federal agent posing as a drug cartel member. The payment was supposedly made on behalf of the Iranian military. A second suspect, Gholam Shakuri, is at large and is believed to be in Iran. The Iranian government has denied any involvement in the assassination plot.  (Source: BBC)

2. Gadhafi Loyalists Battle Rebels in Tripoli. Gunfire between loyalists and transitional government forces was reported in Tripoli on Oct. 14. Until recently, the city has been firmly under the control of the National Transitional Council (NTC) since August, when rebel forces entered Tripoli. While the fall of Tripoli was widely seen as the end of the Moammar Gadhafi regime, loyalists have continued to hold the towns of Sirte and Bani Walid. An international arrest warrant had been issued earlier this year for Gadhafi, but his whereabouts remain unknown. (Source: BBC)

3. Gilad Shalit to be Released. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldier who has been held by Hamas since 2006, is to be released in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. It is unknown precisely when Shalit will be released. Some Palestinian prisoners could be released as early as the last week of October. Victims of terrorist attacks in Israel have fought the decision to release the prisoners, citing that many have been convicted of carrying out bombings against civilian targets in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a letter to the families of terror victims that he “understand[s] the difficulty in digesting that these villains…will not be paying the full price that they deserve to,” but “the state of Israel does not abandon its soldiers and its citizens.” (Source: BBC)

4. U.S. Sends 100 Soldiers to Fight Lord’s Resistance Army. President Barack Obama has approved the deployment of 100 U.S. Army soldiers to advise soldiers in Uganda and surrounding nations fighting against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The soldiers will serve in an advisory role only, and will not engage in combat unless it is necessary for self-defense. The LRA was formed in the 1980s to overthrow the Ugandan government, but has targeted civilians. The group is notorious for kidnappings, rapes and maiming of civilians in the region, and the LRA has caused continued instability in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, which only received its independence in July of this year. (Source: CNN)

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5. Nations Recognize Syrian National Council. The anti-government Syrian National Council gained formal recognition from Libya and elements of the Egyptian government as nations continue to put pressure on the incumbent leader Bashar al-Assad to resign. Pro-democracy movements have been ongoing in the country for seven months amid a heavy-handed response from the government. According to the United Nations, 2,900 activists were killed. The government claims that it is in conflict with armed gangs, further claiming that 1,100 members of the military and paramilitary groups have been killed. The recognition came days after the Syrian foreign minister vowed to take “strong measures” against any nation that recognized the Syrian National Council. (Source: BBC)

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